It's Been Way Too Long
by megann310
Summary: Lucy is reunited with Danny and Lindsay and the rest of the CSIs after four years of being apart. How does everyone react with the sudden return of her?
1. Chapter 1

Brooke Roberts had been teaching fourth grade for six years. In those six years, she had seen many students. Some had been angels, others had been slackers. Out of all of them, she had never grown attatched to any of them. That was until she met Rachel Carter. Rachel was different from the other kids at school. She was a lot tougher than the other girls, and even some of the boys. She was quiet compared to the energetic children that surrounded her. The one thing that really stood out to Brooke was how she didn't trust people. While other little girls around her were whispering secrets about anything and everything, Rachel kept quiet. Brooke even noticed that Rachel didn't seem very trusting around her own parents. She did, however, seem to trust Brooke. The two had grown close when Rachel decided to stay after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays to get extra help with her homework. On this particular Thursday, Brooke couldn't help but notice how distracted Rachel was.

She had been distracted all day. Staring off into space, just looking lost. And now there she saw, staring at her spelling book, not moving. Brooke was sitting at her desk, watching, concerned.

"Rachel, sweetie, is everything okay?" she asked. Rachel looked up and nodded.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm just tired." she said in a quiet voice. She returned her focus to her book, trying to ignore the fact that Brooke was staring at her.

Brooke sighed and stood up. She walked towards Rachel's desk and then kneeled down so she was eye level with the girl.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked again.

"I'm fine! Just leave me alone." Rachel snapped back. Brooke leaned back, shocked. She'd never heard Rachel yell. And she could have sworn that she heard a slight accent when she did, something that was very uncommon for the Kansas town that they lived in.

Rachel looked at her teacher and frowned. "Look, I'm sorry. I haven't been feelin' well lately. Here, I'm done with my work." she said as she ripped a piece of paper out of her notebook and handed it to Brooke.

Brooke looked over the work and smiled, forgetting about the little outburst from Rachel.

"It's perfect, like always." she said, handing it back to Rachel. She hesitated for a moment before asking the question that she had wanted an answer for all year long. "Rachel, honey, why is it you come after school to get help? You obviously don't need it."

Rachel looked down at her desk, then looked up again.

"I guess I just like comin' to school. I dunno why, but I like it. Is that so weird?" she asked. Brooke shook her head.

"No, it's just wouldn't you rather be spending time with your friends?"

"In case you haven't noticed, Ms. Roberts, I don't got many friends." she said as she closed her book and shoved it into her backpack.

"What about Ryan Johnson? He seems to like you." Brooke said, smiling.

"Oh please, my daddy would kill me if he knew I was talkin' to boys." she said, laughing and showing off her smile that Brooke hardly ever saw. It didn't last long, though.

"Are you close to your father?" Brooke asked. Rachel shrugged.

"I used to be."

Brooke nodded and stood up. She didn't want to push Rachel to tell her why she wasn't close to her father anymore. It wasn't her place to ask. She was a teacher, not a guidance counselor.

"Ms. Roberts, do you need any help around the classroom? I don't wanna go home yet." Rachel asked. Brooke nodded, pointing at an empty bulliten board in the back of the room.

"I was planning on putting up the recent artwork you all made. Would you like to help with that?" she asked. Rachel nodded..

"I'd love to help."

The two began hanging up the artwork. They worked in silence, just enjoying each other's company. They worked well together, with Rachel handing Brooke the projects, then Brooke would staple them. It wasn't until around the last piece of artwork that Rachel spoke again.

"It's my birthday today." she said in a whisper so faint, Brooke was almost sure she didn't hear it.

"I thought your birthday was months ago." she said, confused. Rachel shook her head no, and that's when Brooke saw the tears forming in her eyes. She placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort the child from whatever was wrong, but Rachel winced and backed away. Brooke was scared now. She'd never seen Rachel act like this, ever. She thought back to when she was younger and taking health class. Did girls get their periods this young? Maybe that was what was wrong with her, and she was just hormonal. But that didn't seem right.

"Rachel, sweetie, what's wrong?" she asked, but as she asked, she could see that it was the wrong question. She saw the look in Rachel's eyes go from sad to angry.

"Don't call me Rachel! That ain't my name!" she yelled. Brooke looked at her, not knowing what to do. And this time, she knew she heard an accent.

"What do you mean that's not your name? If it isn't your name, then what is?" she asked carefully. She didn't want to freak her out even more than she already was. She looked at Rachel, or whoever it was, standing in front of her. She was now crying. Brooke didn't understand how they had gotten here. She had been distracted all day, but could it have been because nobody knew it was her birthday? But why would she say that Rachel wasn't her name? None of this made any sense. She looked at the girl and smiled, trying to reassure her that it was okay to talk. It worked.

"Lucy," she said between sobs, "my name's Lucy Messer."

**It's a short start, but I'm planning on updating soon. Might be tonight, even. In the next chapter, you'll get more information about what's going on. But if you like it so far, you see that button down there? Click on it, and review please :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Brooke stared at the girl standing in front of her.

"Wait, what?"

The girl wiped the tears away from her eyes, the shock of what she had said setting in on her face.

"Nothing," she said, backing up and grabbing her backpack, "nothing, just forget I said anything. I was joking, my name is Rachel. I've gotta go, I'll see ya tomorrow." She turned and ran out of the classroom before Brooke could stop her.

_What the hell had just happened?_

Brooke turned and walked to her desk and logged onto her computer. She didn't know what was going on, but she sure didn't like it.

Once she was logged in, she went straight to Google and typed in the name Lucy Messer. The titles of the articles she found shocked her.

_**Daughter of 2 NYPD Detectives Missing**_

_**Lucy Messer, Age 5, Missing After Day In Central Park**_

_**The Daughter of NYPD Detectives Believed To Be Dead**_

_**Search For Missing Girl Ends**_

Brooke's jaw literally dropped as she read the titles. This couldn't be the same girl she had spent the year teaching. It just couldn't be. She clicked on one of the articles and saw a picture of the missing girl.

_See, _she thought, _the girl in the picture has light brownish hair and blue eyes that you wouldn't be able to forget. Rachel has black hair and green eyes. She was just kidding._

She tried convincing herself this, but then she saw a picture that took her breath away. It was a picture of the missing girl and her parents. She focused on the father and his smile. She knew that smile. It was the same smile that she had seen on Rachel's face not even fifteen minutes earlier. There was no denying that it was the same smile.

_What the hell was going on?!?_

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Lindsay Messer sat at her kitchen table with a plate of spaghetti sitting in front of her, getting cold. She glanced at the clock on the microwave. 6:30. He was thirty minutes late.

She sighed as she stood up and cleared off the table. She knew why he was late, and it had nothing to do with work. She was crazy to think he would even come home at a normal hour that night. It was May 6th. Lucy's birthday. He would be at the bars that night, getting as drunk as he could until he had to call Flack to give him a ride home.

As Lindsay washed the dishes, she felt anger rising in her. She hated Danny for how selfish he could be. She had lost a daughter too, but he acted as if she hadn't. He acted as though life should go on for her, but for him, it should just come to a complete stop. He didn't realize how hard it was for her to get up in the morning, to realize that she wouldn't see Lucy's smile that day, take her shopping, or listen to her talk about her day at school. She wanted to just break down and cry, but she couldn't. She had to keep going. She just wished Danny would realize that.

Of course, every time she hated Danny, she felt guilty. She knew he blamed himself for what happened that day, even if it wasn't his fault. That day had started out like any other day. It had been Danny's day off, and like many other days off, he decided to spend it with Lucy. He had taken her to the park, and when he had turned his back for just a second and then turned back around, she was gone. Lindsay knew it wasn't his fault, she knew he was the best father to Lucy, but Danny still couldn't stop blaming himself. All he could say after it happened was, "If only I had payed closer attention to her, then she'd still be here."

Lindsay quickly wiped away a tear and tried not to think about that day. It only broke her heart when she did. So instead of thinking about it, she made her way down the hallway to the nursery. She opened up the door and walked over to the crib. She smiled at her 6 month old daughter, Caroline, who was sleeping peacefully. Seeing her almost took away all the pain Lindsay was feeling.

Lindsay's trance-like state while staring at her daughter was soon ended when she heard the front door open and close. She kissed her daughter on the forehead before making her way back out into the living room. She saw Danny throw his keys on the table by the door, ignoring Lindsay's presence in the room.

"Wow, you're actually home before midnight. Congratgulations." Lindsay mumbled as she watched Danny stumble into the kitchen to grab a beer.

"I'm tired." he stated simply.

"You know, I know Caroline's not anything like Lucy, but she's still your daughter and I'm sure she'd love it if you'd come home on time so she could at least get to know you."

Danny sighed and turned around to face his wife.

"Ya know what Lindsay, why don't you do me a favor and save the fucking lecture for someone who cares, aight? In fact, why don't you go tell it to Flack. I'm sure he'd just love to sit there and listen to ya and comfort ya, since apparently that's what you two do. And maybe you can get a little extra somethin' after that?"

Lindsay took a step back, stunned. She felt like someone had slapped her in the face. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Danny smirked.

"You didn't think I knew, did you? Flack told me all about it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm goin' to bed. You can sleep on the couch."

And with that, Danny walked out of the room, leaving Lindsay by herself to think about how fucked up her life had gotten since Lucy had gone missing. She couldn't even believe that Flack told Danny about what had happened, but then again, she wasn't that suprised. They were best friends, of course he'd tell him.

She hadn't even meant for the kiss between her and Flack to happen. It had been a year since Lucy had disappeared, and Lindsay felt alone. She couldn't talk to Danny about the empty feeling in her stomach, so she turned to Flack. They had talked for a little while. He had comforted her, which was just what she needed, and then it happened. She kissed him. They had both quickly pulled away, with her saying it was a mistake, that she was sorry.

Now Danny knew about it, and it was just one more thing to make Danny Messer hate the world even more.

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Danny wanted to slap himself for bringing up Flack to Lindsay. He had known about what happened between the two of them since it happened, but he knew it was a mistake. He of all people knew he couldn't hate Lindsay for what she did, not after what he had done with Rikki all those years ago, which was a thousand times worse. But he couldn't help saying it. He was just pissed off at the world and he wanted to bring somebody down with him, even if that person was Lindsay, the only other person who knew what he was going through.

And she did know what he was going through, even if he never admitted it out loud. She had lost a daugher too. In a way though, Danny was mad at Lindsay for going on with her life. He knew it was stupid, and he knew he had to move on too, but he just didn't know how he was supposed to live without his little girl.

He felt guilty for not being there for Caroline now. He knew this could be like a second chance for him, but every time he looked at her, he saw Lucy. He really did want to be a good father to Caroline, but how could he do that when he couldn't even watch after Lucy without something happening to her?

Danny was thrown out of his thoughts when his phone started to vibrate. He pulled it out of his pocket and glanced down, only to find an unknown area code.

"Messer."

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After reading several articles from the internet, Brooke felt like she knew Lucy's entire life story. She had been born in Manhattan to Danny and Lindsay Messer, who were both detectives and CSIs. She had been born on May 6th, which meant she hadn't been lying about her birthday being that day. She had no brothers or sisters. She went missing on April 15th while spending the day in Central Park with her father.

Brooke just couldn't believe what she was reading. The same little girl that she had known as Rachel all year long had a whole other life in New York, with totally different people than the people that Brooke had gotten to know during parent-teacher conferences. It just didn't seem possible, but it did explain why Rachel, or Lucy, had freaked out today. She just didn't understand why she had picked today, of all days, to come clean about this.

At the end of one of the articles, Brooke saw a bunch of phone numbers to call in case anyone had any information about Lucy's disappearance. She was suprised when she saw that the parents had their numbers listed, but then she remembered that they were detectives.

She quickly pulled out her cell and began to dial one of the numbers, hoping it hadn't been changed in the past 3 years.

It rang three times before someone picked up.

_"Messer."_

Brooke took a deep breath when she heard the man's voice.

"Is this detective Danny Messer?" she asked, even though she knew it was.

_"Yeah. Who's this?"_

"My name's Brooke Roberts. Well, I could think of about a hundred different ways to tell you, but I'm just going to come out and say it. I know where your daughter is."

**Review...please?**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! They are very much appreciated. So I have no clue how kidnappings work really, and I don't know the process for reuniting the family with the kidnapee, so if it sounds like I don't know what I'm talking about in this chapter, it's because I don't. Just thought I'd warn you. But hey, it's my story, so if this is how I want it to happen, this is how it happens. **

**Disclaimer: I only own Brooke, Charles, and Elizabeth & Dylan Carter, although I had a dream that I owned Danny, but that's a whole other story :)**

_"Daddy!"_

_Danny turned around at the sound of her voice. A huge smile formed on his face when he saw his daughter make her way through the crowded police station. He glanced at Lindsay, who had tears in her eyes. When he turned his attention back to Lucy, he saw that she was now running for him. He got down on his knees and took her in his arms when she got to him. _

_"Lucy, baby, you're okay." he said, comforting his now crying daughter. He felt her arms wrap tighter around his neck. _

_"I missed you, Daddy. I've been so scared." she whimpered. _

_"I know sweetie, I know. But it's okay now. I'm here. And I'm never letting go of you again."_

Danny slowly opened his eyes, not wanting to wake up from his dream. When he saw where he was, a smiled a tiny smile. He was on a plane, on his way to Kansas. His dream was about to come true. He was about to see Lucy again.

He turned his head to his left and saw Lindsay staring out the window.

"Linds," he said softly. She turned her head to face him, her eyes red from crying. She smiled.

"She's coming home, Danny. She's coming home."

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The day started out like any other day for Brooke. She woke up that morning, got dressed, got a coffee from Starbucks, then went to school. However, she knew that it wouldn't be just an ordinary day.

She had talked to Danny Messer the previous afternoon, telling him about who she thought was his daughter, e-mailing him her school picture, to which he confirmed that it was her. After that conversation, she had made a call to the police station. She had talked to a Detective Charles Wilson, and that was when the plan was made.

While at school, the detective would talk to Lucy while the arrests of her kidnappers were being made. This way Lucy would be at school so if Elizabeth and Dylan Carter decided to run, they wouldn't be able to take Lucy.

Brooke sat at her desk, watching as her students walked into the classroom, putting their bags down and laughing and joking around with each other. About a minute before the bell rang, she saw Lucy walk in, looking tired. Brooke sighed, happy that nothing had gone wrong at home and that she was here. Brooke looked at her teaching assistant.

"Would you run the class for me? I've got something I need to do." she said. The young woman nodded and smiled, happy to take over the class.

Brooke reached Lucy beforeshe could put her stuff down.

"Sweetie, I need you to come with me."

Lucy stared at Brooke with a hint of fear in her eyes.

"Ms. Roberts, yesterday, I was just kiddin'. It was just me and my crazy imagination." Lucy explained. Brooke nodded and smiled.

"I still need you to come with me. Please?" Brooke asked. Lucy sighed and turned away from her desk.

"Okay." she agreed.

Brooke led Lucy out of the classroom and down the hallway to the principal's office. Brooke could see that she was scared, and she wanted to say something, anything to make her feel better. She wanted to tell her that everything would be alright, and that her real parents would be there soon, but she didn't. She was afraid that anything she might say would cause Lucy to run away. So instead, Brooke just stayed quiet until they reached the office.

"Why do I have to go to the principal's office? Am I in trouble?" Lucy asked. Brooke shook her head.

"No, you're not in trouble. There's just someone in there who needs to talk to you." Brooke explained as she opened the door to the office and let Lucy go in. She followed Lucy in. She knew she didn't have to stay with her, but she wanted to.

When they entered the room, Brooke saw Charles sitting at the principal's desk. He smiled when he saw them.

"Hello Lucy." he greeted. Lucy looked at Brooke.

"I told you, that ain't my name. I was only jokin'!"

"Lucy," Charles continued, "my name's Detective Wilson. I'm here to talk to you, to help you. Now please, come sit down."

Lucy hesitated before going to sit in the chair facing the detective. She stared at the ground, not wanting to look at the man. Brooke sat in the chair next to her.

"It's okay, sweetie," Brooke told her. Lucy nodded, not looking up from the ground.

"Well now, I don't know where to start, so why don't you start, Lucy? Tell me about your life in New York." Charles said.

Lucy's head shot up at the mention of New York. She looked at Brooke, then at Charles, confused.

"How do you know about New York?" she asked. The detective smiled.

"I knw a lot of things."

"Like what?" Lucy questioned.

"It doesn't matter. Now, if you don't want to talk about New York, why don't you talk about Elizabeth and Dylan."

Lucy looked down at the floor again, but looked up quickly.

"I hate them." she answered. The detective was about to say something when Lucy started speaking again. "They make me call them Mommy and Daddy, even though they aren't my parents. And any time I mention my old life, they freak out on me and beat me. Like on Wednesday, I mentioned Uncle Flack, and Dylan hit me."

Brooke sat in her chair, shocked. That was why she had winced when she had touched her yesterday. She couldn't believe that this had been going on for so long and nobody had even noticed. Of course, she hadn't even thought anything was wrong until yesterday.

Charles leaned back in his chair and shook his head, sighing. Not only was this a kidnapping case, it was also a child abuse case.

"Tell me about that day in Central Park."

Lucy shrugged. She's been to Central Park plenty of times, but she knew exactly which time the detective was talking about. In the four years since that day, she'd never told anyone what had happened. She took a deep breath before starting.

"I remember it was a Saturday, and it was my dad's day off. He wanted to spend the entire day with me. He took me to some Disney movie, he took me to get ice cream, and then he took my to the park. By that time, I was tired and cranky and I was being a brat. When my dad's phone rang, he answered and he turned his back on my for not even a minute, and I was stupid and I decided to be mean to him and hide. So I wandered off, even after all the times both my parents had told me never to do that. I was only going to be gone for a minute, but that's when Dylan and Elizabeth took me. He put his hand over my mouth and she had a gun. They took me to their hotel room, they told me my parents didn't want me. I was so stupid, I actually believed them. Is that stupid of me?"

Charles shook his head.

"No sweetie, it's not stupid. You were young, you didn't know what to believe."

Lucy nodded, and then continued.

"They took me with them to live here. They dyed my hair and they made me wear contacts that changed my eye color. They told me that if I ever told anyone, they'd kill me. I was scared, I...oh God, they're gonna kill me now!" Lucy yelled. She had tears falling down her face. She started sobbing loudly, and it was the worst thing Brooke and Charles had ever heard.

Brooke put her arm around the sobbing child, trying to comfort her.

"Lucy, listen to me. Elizabeth and Dylan Carter won't be able to hurt you anymore, do you understand? You're safe." Charles said. He couldn't believe what the poor girl had been through. She was living with people who abused her, and she thought that her real parents didn't want her, and now she had the fear that she'd be killed for telling someone about this. He was just glad that he told the right person. Any other person could have easily gone to Elizabeth and Dylan, saying their 'daughter' was acting crazy and saying she was someone she wasn't. Charles thanked God that Brooke had looked Lucy up on Google. It was a move that saved Lucy's life.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Excuse me, are you two by any chance the Messers?"

Danny and Lindsay turned around from where they stood in the crowded airport. They nodded their heads yes at the man who was talking to them.

"I'm Detective Bryan. I'm supposed to pick you up and take you to see your daughter." the man said, holding his hand out to shake Danny and Lindsay's hands.

Danny nodded.

"How is she?" he asked. Detective Bryan shrugged.

"I honestly haven't seen her yet. She's at her school with my partner, Detective Wilson."

"Well, have you arrested her kidnappers yet?" Lindsay asked.

"We went to their house and they weren't there." he answered. When he saw the disappointed looks on their faces, he quickly responded, "But don't worry, they don't have a clue what is happening, so I'm sure they are just out running errands. Don't worry, we'll get them. Now let's get you two to that school to see your daughter."

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The drive to the elementary school had seemed like hours for Danny and Lindsay, when it had only been about thirty minutes. Once they finally pulled up, they almost couldn't believe that they were there. Their daughter was actually inside of that building. After four years, they would get to see her again.

They both got out of the car and followed the detective inside the building. When Danny saw the nervous look on Lindsay's face, he grabbed her hand. When they reached the door of the principal's office, the detective stopped and looked at the two.

"Are you ready?"

Danny and Lindsay looked at each other, took a deep breath, then looked at the detective.

"We're ready."


	4. Chapter 4

The second the door opened and she saw Lucy, about a million emotions went through Lindsay at once. She felt the tears well up in her eyes. She almost asked Danny to pinch her, just so she would know that she wasn't dreaming, because it sure as hell felt like a dream. She was only a few feet away from her daughter, who's innocent face was staring at her and Danny, full of shock. Lindsay tried to move her feet, but she didn't know why she couldn't. It took a friendly nudge from the detective before she could actually get close to Lucy.

Lindsay walked towards Lucy slowly, afraid that if she went too fast, it would all be gone and she'd wake up. Once she finally reached Lucy, she got down on her knees and took her face in her hands. She looked over her daughter whom she never thought she'd see again. The tears started falling down her face.

"Oh Lucy," was all she could say before she started sobbing. She wrapped her arms around her daughter, squeezing her hard. She felt Danny standing behind her, and it made her cry harder. They were finally all together again.

Lucy awkwardly hugged her sobbing mother. She was shocked to see her parents, her real parents. The detective didn't even tell her that they knew where she was, so seeing them walk through the door was a little unreal for her.

As she continued to hug her mother, her eyes stared at Danny, who was now on the ground next to Lindsay. She just couldn't believe that they were there. This was a moment that she had wanted for the past four years, but now that it was happening, she just didn't know what to do, or say.

Once Lindsay had finally pulled away from Lucy so she could wipe her eyes, Danny quickly took her place.

"Oh God, Luce, I thought I'd never see you again." Danny said. He wanted to say more, but he knew if he did, he'd start sobbing like Lindsay.

"How'd you guys know I was here?" Lucy asked as she pulled away from her father.

"I called them."

Lucy turned to face her teacher, who had been forgotten once Danny and Lindsay had gotten there. Brooke smiled at the child, then she walked over to where her parents stood.

"I'm Brooke." she said, extending her hand, which Danny quickly shook.

"Thank you. Thank you for calling me when you found out. You don't know how much I, we, appreciate what you did." he said, glancing at Lindsay, who was standing by his side, smiling at Brooke through her tears, nodding her head in agreement. He then looked at his daughter, who was still sitting in her chair, still in shock.

"Excuse me, I hate to interupt."

Everyone in the room looked at the man who was now entering the room. Danny and Lindsay hadn't even noticed that the detective that they had been with hadn't followed them in. He had remained in the hallway.

Detective Bryan cleared his throat before speaking again. He looked at Danny and Lindsay and smiled. "We've got them."

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The second Danny had seen the two people, he had wanted to seriously hurt them. They were sitting in the interrogation room, looking as if they hadn't done anything wrong. In fact, according to them, they had done a good deed.

"So tell me," Detective Wilson began, "why'd you kidnap Lucy Messer?"

Elizabeth and Dylan Carter glanced at each other before Elizabeth spoke. "We really didn't have a choice. She would have had a miserable life if we had left her with those people."

"Because, they're cops. Do you think they really have any time to spend with that child?" Dylan stated, causing the detective to roll his eyes.

"Really? Because I have kids, and I see them all the time."

Elizabeth looked down at the table. When she looked up, she decided to let it all out.

"Look, we didn't go to New York to kidnap anyone. We went there to adopt a child, but the adoption didn't work out. After we found that out, I was pretty upset, and that's when Dylan and I saw her. She was in the park, with those people, and I saw their badges. What kind of life is that for a girl? Both her parents being cops, it's just not the kind of life a child should have. Parents are supposed to be like Dylan and I, two people with 9 to 5 jobs. And Dylan and I have got friends in New York, and so they helped us do our research, and that's when we found out about _him._ Danny's his name, I think."

When she said this, she glared at the mirror, knowing that Danny was on the other side. Danny glanced at Lindsay with a confused look, then waited for the woman to continue.

"He shouldn't be allowed to have kids. I heard about what happened with that boy, the one who was killed while he was with that man. _Rachel_ could have been in danger with him around. And it looks like I was proved right. I mean, look at how easy it was for me to take her while she was under his watch. She deserves a better father than him. I did her a favor! And it's disgusting to think you're just going to let her go back to him."

Danny could feel his blood boiling, and before Lindsay could stop him, he snapped. He burst into the room, shocking both the couple sitting at the table and the detective. He made his way to Elizabeth, who was now leaning closer to her husband, fear in her eyes.

"You took _my _daughter because you thought she was in danger by being with me?! That's fucking bullshit! You have no right to judge me on a fucking accident that happened years ago!! And I'd never, EVER put my daughter in danger! I care about her more than you ever could! And I swear to God, if I didn't have so much to lose, I'd fucking kill you!!"

Danny was only inches away from Elizabeth's face. He was shaking from anger, and he wanted to hurt this woman who had kidnapped his daughter, but he stopped. He backed away from the woman, then he turned to look at Lindsay, who was standing next to the detective, looking scared at what he could do. Then he looked back at Elizabeth and Dylan, and for some strange reason, he smiled. He smiled because he knew he didn't have to fight these people. He had already won. He was going to be taking his daughter home with them.

He turned his back on them for good and walked to the door. Lindsay, who was relieved he hadn't done anything he'd regret, followed him.

"Come on," she said, taking his hand, "let's take Lucy and go home."

**Okay, I know it was short, but I'll probably update it very soon, maybe even today. And don't expect everything to be all happy now...I plan on adding drama :)**

**Oh, and thank you so much for all the review! You all really have no idea how much they mean to me, so keep it up, and I'll keep posting!**


	5. Chapter 5

Lucy hadn't talked much since she had been reunited with her parents. Danny and Lindsay hadn't thought much of it, though. They knew it was normal for her to feel shy. After all, it had been four years. However, once Lucy realized that they were on their way to the lab, she couldn't help but perk up a bit, which made her parents very happy.

Lindsay turned her head slightly so she could watch her daughter take in the familiar sights as they drove past them. She smiled as she Lucy's blue eyes light up at the sight of the crime lab.

"Is everyone gonna be there?" she asked, turning away from the window so she could look at her mother. Lindsay nodded.

"Yes, they're all there, and they can't wait to see you."

Lucy gave a small smile as she unbuckled her seatbelt. She was excited, too. Nervous, which she didn't know why, but still excited.

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The ride on the elevator seemed so slow to Lucy. She was now more excited than she was nervous. She couldn't wait to see the people she had called her family since the day she was born. And besides, her parents kept telling her they had a suprise for her.

As soon as the elevator doors opened on the correct floor, Lucy was running to reach the break room. Once she was close to it, she slowed down, the feeling of nervousness coming back to her. She looked behind her and saw that her parents were encouraging her to keep going. Lucy took a deep breath and finally made her way to the room.

"SUPRISE!"

Lucy jumped back, startled. She'd been expecting everyone to be there, but she hadn't expected a party. She looked at all the people who filled the room and she felt tears in her eyes. She knew she had missed them all, she just didn't realize how much until this moment.

She smiled when she saw that her uncle Flack was the first person to approach her. He lifted her up and gave her a big hug.

"Lucy Messer, you don't know how much we've all missed you." he said. Lucy smiled even wider as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I've missed you too, Uncle Flack." she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Suddenly, Lucy was surrounded by people and she was passed from person to person, even though she thought she was too big to be held. Once she was finally on the ground again, she looked around for the person who she hadn't seen yet.

"Where's Uncle Mac?" she asked, confused as to why he wasn't there yet.

"I'm right here, sweetie."

Lucy turned around and gasped when she saw Mac with a baby in his arms.

"Uncle Mac! You had a baby?" Lucy asked, causing everyone around her to laugh.

"Actually, sweetie, that's sort of the suprise we were talking about." Lindsay said, going over to Mac to take the baby from him. Lucy was really confused now. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at her father, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

"Luce, this is Caroline," Danny began. "She's your baby sister."

Lucy looked from Danny to Lindsay, and then to the baby. This baby was her sister? She then looked at Mac, who was nodding his head. She then turned back and glared at her parents.

"So you replaced me?"

The look on Danny and Lindsay's faces went from joy to shock. Lindsay began shaking her head.

"No, honey, we didn't replace you. It's just things happened." Lindsay explained, but Lucy wouldn't listen.

"So then it's true. You didn't want me. You were happy to have me gone." she said in a voice so quiet, only Danny heard. He could feel the same anger that he had felt back in the police station in Kansas rising up in him again.

"Who the hell told you that?! Was it those people?" he asked in a voice that was a little too loud. It startled Caroline, who had been sleeping peacefully earlier, but now was screaming.

Lucy just stood there, nodding her head yes.

"Hey Danno," Flack interupted, "I think we've all got a lot of work to do, so we'll just see you later. It's great to see you again, Luce."

After Flack said that, everyone left the break room, leaving the family of four to try and figure out what to do next.

While Lindsay tried to calm down Caroline, Danny tried to talk to Lucy.

"Listen baby, I don't know what all those people said about me and your ma, but none of it's true. We both love you so much, you have to believe me."

Lucy looked at her father, then stared at the floor. "Just take me home."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The car ride home had been a silent one. Lindsay had finally gotten Caroline to fall asleep, and Lucy refused to talk. Once they had gotten inside, Lucy had muttered an "I'm tired" and went to her room. Before she went, she had to add in the, "Oh gee, I'm suprised it's still there" remark. Danny had rolled his eyes. The kid sure had become a smartass.

Danny sat on the couch, resting his eyes while Lindsay put the baby down and attempted to talk to Lucy. A few minutes later, she joined him.

"Did she talk to you?" he asked, opening his eyes so he could see Lindsay. She nodded.

"She said goodnight, which I guess is better than nothing." she said, sighing. Danny nodded.

"I can't believe she's acting like this. You'd think she'd be a bit more happier to see us."

"Well what do you expect, Dan? It's been four years! She hardly even knows us. We're just a memory to her."

When Lindsay said this, it made Danny want to cry, mostly because he knew she was right.

"I know, I was just hoping..."

"You were hoping this was going to be easy." Lindsay finished. "Well guess what, it's not!"

Danny looked at Lindsay, confused at her angry tone.

"Why are you getting mad?" he asked. Lindsay sighed.

"Because I know you, Danny. You're expecting everything that's happened for the past four years to just disappear. You want all of this to end like some fucking Disney movie, where we all live happily ever after. Except that can't happen! Things have changed! We have to rebuild a relationship with Lucy! And if we want things to work out between us, then we have to work on rebuilding our relationship also."

The last statement caught Danny by suprise.

"What do you mean, rebuild our relationship? What's wrong with us?"

Lindsay looked at Danny in disbelief.

"You see, this is what I mean by you wanting things to just disappear. Just the other day, you were yelling at me and telling me to sleep on the couch, now you act as if nothing ever happened!" Lindsay yelled. She was frustrated now. "And how the hell can you ask me what I mean by rebuilding our relationship? Danny, the past four years, you've done nothing but push me away, which is something you swore to me you'd never do again. I couldn't talk about you, which is something we should have been able to do. Of all people, I should have been able to talk to you, since she's your daughter too. But you just shut me out, which I guess is the only thing you know how to do. And that's why I turned to Don, because unlike you, he was actually there for me!"

Danny had his face in his hands now, trying to think of what to say to calm his now screaming wife down. He knew that she was right about everything she was saying. He had shut her out, again.

"Linds-"

"No Danny, don't apologize. Just, don't. It's the last thing I want to hear right now." she said as she got up from the couch. "You know, honestly, I don't know why I'm still with you right now. I'd probably be better off without you. So would Caroline. If I were to leave and take her with me today, it's not like she would miss you. She doesn't even know who the hell you are, because that's another thing you screwed up on. You've totally ignored the fact that you have another daughter."

Lindsay's last few sentences had Danny feel like he was being stabbed with a dozen knives all at once. He couldn't say anything to her, because at the moment all he could say was sorry, and she obviously didn't want to hear that.

"Look, I'm going to bed. We'll talk in the morning." Lindsay said, leaving the living room and leaving Danny by himself to think about how much he'd fucked up.


End file.
